BY NOLAN RUTH
X – @RealNolanRuth
FRISCO— Frisco ISD is filled with great rivalries since the school district has enough schools to fill two UIL athletic districts. Thursday night saw another great chapter in one of those rivalries as the Wakeland Wolverines and Lone Star Rangers needed overtime to determine the winner of their 5-5A Division I matchup under the roof of The Star.
Wakeland led for most of the duration of the game, but Lone Star pulled off a massive fourth quarter comeback. However it was the Wolverines that pulled out the 65-59 win in the extra period.
“The adrenaline is pumping for sure,” Wakeland head coach Chandler Isom said after the exciting finish. “That was a hard fought game between two really good football teams tonight.”
It was clear from the get-go that the game would be a shootout. The Rangers opened the scoring with a 79-yard quarterback keeper by Karence Hoyt to take an early 7-0 lead.
Hoyt ended up being the work horse for Lone Star, completing 24 of 32 for 375 yards and four touchdowns, adding 27 carries for 161 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Wakeland was quick to respond on a 50-yard carry by Aidan Poole to tie the game. The Wolverine defense stepped up on the ensuing drive and forced a turnover that set up Jayden Maples to score on an option play to give Wakeland the lead at 14-7.
Hoyt tied it up again for the Rangers with a 60-yard pass play to his tight end Colsen Jaggars. Despite the early success on the ground for the Wolverines, it was the pass game that did the job the rest of the way as Maples found Grayson Myer for the touchdown on a fourth down.
Maples was the leader for the Wolverines, completing 25 of 35 for 402 yards and 5 touchdowns.
Wakeland led 21-14 after just one quarter of play. The defense got another big stop to open the second quarter, setting up another fourth down touchdown on a double pass from Maples-to-Myer-to-Ryder Treadway.
The next three drives all resulted in points. Hoyt scored for Lone Star on a 21-yard keeper, and connected with Isaiah Massey from 10 yards out for another score. But it was the connection of Maples to Treadway that kept Wakeland in control with a 39-yard touchdown pass. At the end of the half, the Wolverines led 35-28.
The Rangers very quickly tied it up to open the second half with a 31-yard touchdown run by Massey. However Wakeland kept its foot on the gas. Maples and Treadway connected twice more in the third quarter to hold a 49-35 lead heading into the final frame.
While the first three quarters were back-and-forth blows between the teams, the fourth quarter was pure chaos. Hoyt opened it up by going over the top on a quarterback blast to score for Lone Star. The Wolverines responded on a scoring pass from Maples to Lucas Mangham.
The Rangers then went on a long drive that went deep into Wakeland territory, but fell short on fourth down. It appeared that Wakeland might be able to run the clock out, up by 14. However, Maples was called for intentional grounding in the end zone which resulted in a safety to make the score 56-44. Lone Star took advantage of a free possession with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Hoyt to Bryson Jones. The two point conversion was good to make it 56-52 with just minutes remaining.
Two plays into the ensuing drive Maples threw an interception, giving the Rangers the ball back with a chance to win the game. They killed the clock and took the lead when Hoyt hit Dekhari Dean for the touchdown to make it 59-56 with 40 seconds to go.
Maples was able to drive Wakeland down to the Lone Star 26 yard line to set up Jack Minsky’s 43-yard field goal to force overtime as time expired.
The Wolverines opened the overtime period on offense and failed to score on fourth and goal. All the Rangers needed was a field goal. Facing third down from the nine yard line, they called upon Hoyt to win it on the quarterback draw. Both teams came together in a scrum. The pile was moving forward for Lone Star, but suddenly Austin Wilson emerged from the scrum with the ball for Wakeland. He spun around in his own endzone, got behind his teammates and ran 103 yards back the other way to win the game 65-59.
“I just knew everyone was around me,” a breathless Wilson said after his game winning play. “I felt the ball in my hand and I ripped harder than I ever have and sprinted faster than I ever have.”
Wakeland (6-3, 5-2) extends its win streak to four games and will look to make it five as they hit the road to Sherman (2-6, 1-5) next Friday. Lone Star (7-1, 5-1) will try to bounce back from its first loss of the season when it hosts Lebanon Trail (3-5, 1-5) next Thursday on Halloween.
